Smart Meters: A Market Promising 160% Growth in India

According to a study, India loses more than US $16 billion a year just due to electricity theft. This translates to nearly 18% of global power stealing representing highest figure among all countries.

In order to prevent such loss and curb the severe challenge exposed by electricity theft in the country, the Ministry of Power (MoP) is strongly rooting in smart meter.

With smart meter mandate, the MoP plans to envelop almost 35 million customers by the end of 2019. The customers whose monthly electricity consumption stands in between 200 kWh to 500 kWh will be brought under the purview of this mandate. Earlier, this smart meter mandate was applied to customers with monthly consumption of over 500 kWh. Similarly, by the end of 2032, the country plans to provide smart meter to all of its customers on a feeder.

This is one of the primary reasons due to which smart meter market is expected to witness exponential growth in India. In next four years, its market is estimated to cross US $30 million growing at a CAGR of over 160%. The growth is projected to surge further as there are over 260 million traditional electric meters across the country which will be replaced by smart meters in mid and long-term.

In addition, the market of smart meters has already experienced significant thrust with the beginning of this year. It is because the country aims to electrify every household under the scheme called Saubhagya— Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Prime Minister Easy Electricity Access to Every Home Program).

Apart from illuminating 40 million households by the end of 2018, the scheme with a budget of US $2.5 billion is also triggering demand for large numbers of smart meters.

Hence, smart meter is featuring as best ailing solution for power distribution companies. This game-changer device which is capable of two-way communication—between customer and utility—will assist such companies in addressing non-technical losses like electricity theft and generate revenue for the country.